Growing organic demand provides high-value opportunities for many types of producers

Who's buying organic? Young adults aged 18 to 29 are more likely than those over 65 to try organic products. And it's not just wealthy people buying organic—the share of Americans who actively try to buy organic foods is similar for those with a household income under $30,000 and those with a household income over $75,000. Organic milk has the highest market share of all organic products (14 percent), followed by organic eggs and vegetables (about 7 percent). On the producer side, organic farm operators tend to be younger and have more diversified crops, and they have higher levels of direct-to-consumer marketing than conventional farms. See more data and analysis from the USDA's Economic Research Service. Read more at Amber Waves...

The soup business has grown cold. Inside Campbell's plan to turn up the heat.

Once cold-weather staples, Campbell's canned soups don't exactly jibe with today's consumers' growing preference for fresh food. That's why the company has developed three new lines of soup—Well Yes, Garden Fresh Gourmet and Souplicity—to try to get its soup business back on track. Two of the new lines come in plastic containers sold in the cold case at the perimeter of the grocery store. Souplicity is an HPP soup line that bears a USDA organic label on its package. For now, the lines are being tested in a small set of stores to see how consumers react. Read more at The Washington Post...

Native Sun celebrates 20 years as Jacksonville's homegrown organic grocer

It's been two decades since the husband and wife team of Aaron and Erica Gottlieb launched their organic and natural foods store in Jacksonville. Today there are three locations in the greater Jacksonville area, but its mission has stayed the same: to improve people's lives through food. Read more at EU Jacksonville...

The healthy-lifestyle curriculum

In Memphis, Tennessee, in the middle of a food desert, is a preschool called Perea that's funded by a local health care organization and focuses its curriculum on nutrition. But it's not the only one—a slew of similar schools that focus on health and wellness have popped up across the country. Read more at The Atlantic...

Seed-stage deals show growing diversity of agtech investment

A growing number of startups in agriculture are pulling in capital from a broader pool of investors. The total number of deals last year increased 10 percent over 2015, with the biggest increase in deals occurring at the seed stage. Read more at Xconomy...